FCBARCELONA.CAT

02.12.2009 10:42

Newly promoted Jerez finding it tough at the top

Jordi Clos

Newly promoted Jerez have found it hard so far to acclimatise to the top flight, but despite lying bottom of the league and facing a serious goal drought, they are by no means a push over at home.

As was perhaps to be expected, Jerez’s first taste of La Liga has not been a sweet one so far. With a third of the season gone they have taken just 7 points, the same as Racing and Malaga, though Ziganda’s team have begun to improve slightly after a terrible start that saw them pointless until a draw in the fifth week.

New Faces

Jerez are also struggling on the economic and institutional front and after their promotion last season they brought in virtually a whole new squad, including new boss Ziganda. However, they tried to maintain their football playing style, preferring to pass the ball until recently when a more route one approach has begun to pay dividends.

Goal drought

Goal scoring has proved to be Jerez’s biggest problem so far, having managed to find the net on just 4ocassions in their first12 games, in 9 of which they failed to score at all. They have however improved at the back and if you forget their last game against Getafe when they played more than half the game with 10 men, they have conceded just six goals in their last 7 games.

Improvement at home

Jerez’s improvement has been most visible at home, where they have beaten Villarreal (2-1) and drawn with Malaga (1-1) and Sporting (0-0). Their home record is, in fact, better than the other teams down in the relegation zone.